(2.) The knowledge of Christ is fundamental to all duties ; the duties, as well as the graces of all Christians, are all founded in the knowledge of Christ. Must a Christian believe? That he can never do without the knowledge of Christ : faith is so much depend- ent on his knowledge, that it is denominated by it, Isa. liii. 11. " By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many;" and hence, John vi. 40. seeing and believing are made the same thing. Would a man exercise hope in God ? that he can never do with* out the knowledge of Christ, for he is the author of that hope, 1 Pet. i. 3. he is also its object, Heb. vi. 19. its ground-work and support, Col. i. 27. And as- you cannot believe or hope, so neither can you pray acceptably without a competent degree of this know- ledge. The very Heathen could .say, Non loquendum de Deo sine lumine, i. e. Men must not speak of God without light : the true way of conversing with, and enjoying God in prayer, is by acting faith on him through a Mediator : so much comfort and true ex- cellency there is in it, and no more. O then, how indispensible is the knowledge of Christ, to all that do address themselves to God in any duty !
(3.) It is fundamental to all comforts: all the comforts of be- lievers are streams from this fountain. Jesus Christ is the very ob- ject matter of a believer's joy, Phil. iii. 3. " Our rejoicing is in " Christ Jesus." Take away the knowledge of Christ, and a Christian is the most sad and melancholy creature in the world : again, let Christ but manifest himself, and dart the beams of his light into their souls, it will make them kiss the stakes, sing in flames, and shout in the pangs of death, as men that divide the spoil.
Lastly, This knowledge is fundamental to the eternal happiness of souls : as we can perform no duty, enjoy no comfort, so neither can we be saved without it, John xvii. 3. " This is life eternal, to " know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast " sent." And, if it be life eternal to know Christ, then it is eternal damnation to be ignorant of Christ : as Christ is the door that opens heaven, so knowledge is the key that opens Christ. The excellent gifts, and renowned parts of the moral Heathens, though they purchased to them great esteem and honour among men, yet left them in a state of perdition, because of this great defect, they
86 THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. SERM. I,
were ignorant of Christ, 1 Cor. i. 21. Thus you see how funda- mental the knowledge of Christ is, essentially necessary to all the graces, duties, comforts and happiness of souls.
3^%, The knowledge of Christ is profound and large ; all other sciences are but shadows ; this is a boundless, bottomless ocean ; no creature hath a line long enough to fathom the depth of it ; there is height, length, depth and breadth ascribed to it, Eph. iii. 14. yea, it passeth knowledge. There is * " a manifold wis- " dom of God in Christ,'" Eph. iii. 10. It is of many sorts and forms, of many folds and plates : it is indeed simple, pure and unmixed with any thing but itself, yet it is manifold in degrees, kinds and administrations ; though something of Christ be unfold- ed in one age, and something in another, yet eternity itself cannot fully unfold him. I see something, said Luther, which blessed Austin saw not ; and those that come after me, will see that which I see not. It is in the studying of Christ, as in the planting of a new discovered country; at first men sit down by the sea-side, upon the skirts and borders of the land; and there they dwell, but by degrees they search farther and farther into the heart of the country. Ah, the best of us are yet but upon the borders of this vast continent !
4tthlg, The study of Jesus Christ is the most noble subject that ever a soul spent itself upon; those that rack and torture their brains upon other studies, like children, weary themselves at a low game; the eagle plays at the sun itself. The angels study this doctrine, and stoop down to look into this deep abyss. What are the truths discovered in Christ, but the very secrets that from eternity lay hid in the bosom of God? Eph. iii. 8, 9. God's heart is opened to men in Christ, John i. 18. this makes the gos- pel such a glorious dispensation, because Christ is so gloriously re- vealed therein, 1 Cor. iii. 9. and the studying of Christ in the gospel, stamps such a heavenly glory upon the contemplating soul, ver. 18.
5tMy, It is the most sweet and comfortable knowledge ; to be studying Jesus Christ, what is it but to be digging among all the veins and springs of comfort? and the deeper you dig, the more do these springs flow upon you. How are hearts ravished with the discoveries of Christ in the gospel ? what ecstasies, meltings, tran- sports, do gracious souls meet there ? Doubtless, Philip's ecstasy, John i. 25. evpixapft itfsv, " We have found Jesus," was far be- yond that of Archimedes. A believer could sit from morning to night, to hear discourses of Christ ; " His mouth is most sweet ," Cant. v. 16. f
* HkvnoiXiktiC, eopia Osx, Multiformes sajnentia Dei. Caryl in Job xi. 6. f Every discovery of thy truth is, above all, the plcasantest, most ravishing and
SERM. I. THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. 37
Secondly, Let us compare this knowledge with all other know- ledge, and thereby the excellency of it will farther appear.
1. All other knowledge is natural, but this wholly superna- tural, Mat. xi. 27. " No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; " neither knOweth any the Father, save the Son, and he to whom- " soever the Son will reveal him." The wisest Heathens could never make a discovery of Christ by their deepest searches into nature ; the most eagle-eyed philosophers were but ehildren in know- ledge, compared with the most illiterate Christians.
2. Other knowledge is unattainable by many. All the helps and means in the world would never enable some Christians to attain the learned arts and languages ; men of the best wits, and most pregnant parts, are most excellent in these ; but here is the mys- tery and excellency of the knowledge of Christ, that men of most blunt, dull and contemptible parts attain, through the teaching of the Spirit, to this knowledge, in which the more acute and inge- nious are utterly blind, Mat. xi. 25. " I thank thee, O Father, " Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things " from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." 1 Cor. i. 26, 27. " You see your calling, brethren, how that not " many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble " are called : but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world, " to confound the wise," &c.